TRENDS IN

SOCIAL WORK IN
THE PHILIPPINES
DISCUSSION OUTLINE
oThe generalist/integrated method of social work practice
oSocial work in developmental social welfare
oCase management as a model of practice
oEmpowerment-oriented social work practice
oInformation technology in social work
THE GENERALIST/
INTEGRATED
METHOD OF
SOCIAL WORK
PRACTICE
THE TRADITIONAL METHOD

THREE DIFFERENT METHODS IN WORKING

WITH PEOPLE
1. Social Casework
2. Social Groupwork
3. Community Organization
In 1967, the first National Workshop on Social
Work Education was held in response to the
realization that social work practice was not
making any impact on Philippine society and
there was a need to make it relevant to the
goals of national development.
CONSIDERATIONS:
 The need to shift goals of social work to parallel national development
Most graduates turned out to be one-method practitioners
For the social workers who have the knowledge and skills for engaging
people in problem solving in bringing needs and resources together
The DSWD required that social workers perform a variety of methods
and approaches
An expectation to have an increased demand for social workers who
would be able to work with all types of client systems
The dominant social problem in the country, poverty, does not call for
specialist but for competent and dedicated social workers
The term Integrated Method of Social Work Practice
is used here in the context of professional social work
methodology. Therefore, this should be distinguished
from integrated programs/services, integrated learning
or integrated development approach. And is now
called the Generalist Method of social work practice.
THE GENERALIST SOCIAL WORKER
Are professionals who work with clients on an individual, group or
community level depending on what is needed and appropriate, utilizing
the basic competence for practice that requires the “generics” of social
work.
The philosophical base/foundation: basic philosophy underlying
social work practice, professional values, principles and ethics.
The knowledge foundation: human behavior and the environment
social welfare policy, programs and services and social work practice
theory
Related concepts:
1. The concept of one (any) client system as point
of entry for working with other client systems
2. The concept of total problem-solving
3. The concept of the client’s problem or situation
as the basis for the choice of the worker’s
helping approach or intervention.
SOCIAL WORK IN
DEVELOPMENTAL
SOCIAL WELFARE
Social welfare
DEVELOPMENT
“Refers to the laws, programs,
Means causing something
benefits and services which assure or to unfold, to grow, to
strengthen provisions for meeting change for the better, to be
realized.
social needs recognized as basic to
Development aims
the well being of the population and towards the realization of
the better functioning of social actual and potential human
order” capabilities in all spheres.

When social welfare is specifically addressed to social

development concerns, it is developmental social welfare.
TWO LEVELS OF DEVELOPMENTAL
SOCIAL WELFARE TASKS
The Macro level
Involves the formulation of laws,
policies, programs and benefits
that will promote and ensure
social justice. This task also
includes doing research studies
that are badly needed as bases for
social welfare planning and
policy/legislation formulation.
The Micro level
• Re-orientation of existing social
welfare services
• The establishment of social welfare
services that are responsive to the
changing needs in society
• An identification of the social
welfare aspects of social
development programs in which
social workers are or will be involved
IMPLICATIONS OF DEVELOPMENTAL SOCIAL
WELFARE TO SOCIAL WORK
TASKS OF SOCIAL WORK
1. Setting priorities
2. Systematic problem-solving and choosing appropriate helping interventions
3. Mobilizing people
4. Identifying leaders
5. Facilitating access and linkages
6. Participating in social welfare planning
7. Evaluating and measuring impacts
8. Examining/assessing social work practice and education
STRUCTURAL CHANGE
An increasing number of people in the social welfare field to
today believe that development can become a reality only if
there is structural change in the society. The main target of
structural change is the economic system, which is
perceived as being at the core of the inequality in the other
systems in our society. Efforts to bring about such structural
change have been undertaken and continue to be pursued by
different sectors of our society.
STRUCTURAL CHANGE AND SOCIAL
WORK
One of the major interventive models in social work and an area
in which social workers can make a great contribution –
mobilizing people to participate actively in all matters affecting
their lives. Structural change is an enormous task that will
probably be less overwhelming if social workers would realize
that their contribution could well start by way of activities that can
bring about change in the existing economic, political, and
cultural aspects of people’s lives.
RURAL SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE
The interrelatedness of individual, group, and
community problems which are very evident in
rural communities should rule out a fragmented
approach to problem-solving. Rural communities
lend themselves to a total problem-solving
approach. The reality of rural practice requires the
worker to be independent and self directing.
COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION IN THE
RURAL AREAS
GUIDELINES
1. Social workers should come to a community with adequate
knowledge of a variety of helping interventions and strategies
from which they can draw in order to be able to respond to
particular needs or situation.
2. Social workers should help a community set realistic goals
3. Social workers need to understand the communities they are
working with, particularly their culture.
4. Institutions that can help promote and maintain participation
in community affairs abound in the rural areas.
5. Social workers should be open to learning and developing
indigenous community organizing tactics
6. Rural residents can influence institutions to become more
responsive to their needs, but this process takes a long time, and
even then, it is not the same as wielding power by holding elective
positions.
7. Social workers who are engaged in community organization
in rural areas should awaken the rural people to their own
potentials and capacities for self-reliance, providing the necessary
supports towards its realization.
THE EFFECTIVE RURAL SOCIAL WORKER
CHARACTERISTICS
1. Has a good understanding of rural community dynamics
2. Sensitive to the community’s response to her
3. Able to adapt her lifestyle to the rural environment
4. Has good human relations
5. Versatile and knowledgeable
6. Able to identify and mobilize wide range of resources which can be helpful
in community problem-solving
7. She is able to help communities find/develop new, non-existent resources
8. Able to help communities set priorities
CASE MANAGEMENT
MODEL OF
PRACTICE
Case Management is now accepted as a social work
function that is very appropriate in the country
particularly for clients in especially difficult
circumstances. The use of case management as a
model of practice is a trend that should be pursued
vigorously because its main concern is to help clients
resolve concreate problems in their everyday lives. It
is an area where the profession can make a significant
contribution given the realities in the country.
Case Management is a way of delivering services
where a social worker assumes responsibility for
assessing with a client what services he needs, and
helps obtain those services for the client.
“organizes, coordinates, and sustains a network of
formal and informal supports and activities designed
to optimize the functioning and well-being of people
with multiple needs” (Moxley)
HELPING / PROBLEM-SOLVING
PROCESS
1. Assessment – critical scrutiny of the client’s situation
2. Service Planning – Setting a goal that is realistic, specific, and measurable
3. Implementation of the case plan – The network of needed services is mobilized
on behalf of the client
4. Evaluation – Done with the client to find out if the services agreed on were
effective in solving his problem
5. Termination – Informing the client of the conditions under which he may be
accepted again for agency help
6. Follow-up – Ensure that the gains that have been achieved are maintained and
that no new problems have emerged
REFERRAL IS THE ACT OF DIRECTING THE CLIENT TO
ANOTHER WORKER/AGENCY OR ORGANIZATION BECAUSE
THE SERVICE NEEDED BY THE CLIENT IS NOT OFFERED BY
THE WORKER’S AGENCY.

FOUR ASPECTS OF EFFECTIVE REFERRALS

(COMPTON AND GALAWAY)
1. Information about resources
2. Preparing the client
3. Preparing the referral agency
4. Follow-up
EMPOWERMENT
-ORIENTED
SOCIAL WORK
PRACTICE
EMPOWERMENT-ORIENTED SOCIAL WORK
PRACTICE IS NOT SOCIAL DELIVERY, BUT
PRACTICE IN WHICH BOTH CLIENT AND
THE WORKER ARE INVOLVED IN
MUTUAL ASSESSMENT AND
PARTNERSHIP IN WHICH THEY
TOGETHER DEFINE AND SOLVE
PROBLEMS ON BEHALF OF THE CLIENT
GROUP AND SOCIETY IN GENERAL.
VALUES BASE
• Fulfillment of human needs
• Promotion of social justice
• More equal distribution of resources
• Concern for environmental protection
• Elimination of racism, sexism, age-ism, and homophobia
• Self-determination
• Self-actualization
COMPONENTS FOR
EMPOWERMENT-BASED
INTERVENTION
1. Power-shared relationship
2. Competency-based assessment
3. Collectivity for mutual aid
4. Education for critical thinking, and
knowledge and skills for finding
resources and taking action
ISSUES AND
CONCERNS
1. Low status of the profession
2. Lack of or inadequate
number of social workers
employed in different fields or
setting that need their services.
3. Knowledge and skills for
empowerment-oriented
practice
INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY IN
SOCIAL WORK
1. THE SOCIAL WORKER’S USE OF INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY IN RELATION TO THE FOLLOWING:

A.Knowledge
B.Participation
C.Supervision
D.Networking
THE CLIENT’S/AGENCY SERVICE-CONSUMERS’ USE OF
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN RELATION TO THE
FOLLOWING:

A.Knowledge
B.Opportunities
C.Participation